Published: 3 May, 2009, 20:26
Edited: 3 May, 2009, 20:26
After beating CSKA on the road last week, newcomers Rostov went on to claim the scalp of another big club – Zenit of St Petersburg.
Favorites from St Pete lose 2-1 at Rostov.
St. Petersburg native Dmitry Akimov opened the score 53 minutes in, but seven minutes from time the referee blew his whistle for a handball in Rostov's box, and substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak stepped up to the spot to level matters.
However, it didn't take long for the home side to regain the lead. Three minutes later Akimov found Aleksander Gatskan, who fixed it at 2-1.
Elswhere, Krylya Sovetov missed out on the chance to regain top spot, going down 3-1 at home to CSKA.
The home side dominated the opening 45 minutes and scored the only goal during that period through Evgeny Savin.
Samara continued to impress in the second period, but 62 minutes in, sloppy defending allowed Russian international Vasil Berezutski to nod in an Alan Dzagoev corner kick unhindered.
Just a couple of minutes later Krylya lost the ball in midfield, resulting in a breakaway by CSKA, where Yury Zhirkov smartly gave the ball up to Vagner Love, who did the rest for the 2-1 lead.
Ten minutes from time, CSKA’s Georgy Shennikov was given a second yellow card, giving the home side a chance to save the match.
But instead, Krylya were punished for poor defending once again, as Zhirkov set up Moussa Maazou for the clincher.
Meanwhile, Lokomotiv took the points at home to outsiders Spartak Nalchik. This was the first game the Railway men had played with new manager Vladimir Maminov at the helm.